German culture on tap

Germania Maennerchor's Volksfest begins Thursday

JUSTIN RUMBACH / Courier & Press archives
TOP: Maennerchor members Charles Haas, left, and Cletus Muensterman welcome the crowd to the Volksfest with a rendition of "Beer Barrel Polka" during the opening ceremonies in 2005.

JASON CLARK / Courier & Press
ABOVE: Working Distributors employee John Green of Evansville, transports kegs of beer Tuesday while preparing for the the start of Volksfest at Germania Maennerchor. Volksfest 2010 will continue through Saturday.

Germania Maennerchor's ratskeller, a tavern that was remodeled after the 1937 flood put much of Evansville under water, looks much as it did 70 years ago.

Off the kitchen and chorus room, stained-glass windows with German sayings intersperse with dark wood, dining tables, a corner bandstand, steins, old-timey pictures and a long bar whose stools usually are occupied.

Outside, a giant tent is going up near the beer garden's linden tree.

On the eve of the 49th Volksfest — Thursday's 6 p.m. keg tapping will be accompanied by the singing of the U.S. and German national anthems — nearly 400 members of Germania are ready to help Evansville celebrate its Germanic heritage.

Granted, it's a little bit Hoosier. Chances are that real Rheinlanders don't sing "E-I-E-I-O" or serve "world-famous kraut balls." Members of the club have rolled 15,500 of these snacks. And some of Germania's newer murals are the work of a Russian member.

As for the Chicken Dance, it was more of a "duck dance" in Bavaria, according to Germania veteran Charlie Haas, who questions why something "so repetitive" ever created a flap.

Based on a 1950s tune composed in Switzerland, the dance arrived in America in the 1970s via a Texas festival whose sponsors could find only a chicken outfit to rent.

The rest is history.

"Now you can't have a wedding without the Chicken Dance," said musician Dan Kieffer of the Rhein Valley Brass, whose folk melodies (other than "Roll Out the Barrels") are sung in German.

Germania has a Ratskeller Band featuring younger members, and during Volksfest the Schnapps Band from Cincinnati helps entertain the crowd.

The atmosphere Thursday through Saturday is as authentic as the "gemutlichkeit" — good-time feeling — that abounds at festivals throughout Germany, said Germania president Jim Scheu.

More than 11,000 people typically show up, providing income that subsidizes Germania's building, choirs and good deeds, from providing scholarships to sponsoring ball teams.

Spicy bratwurst remains true to the recipe of Butch Sunkel, a German butcher who immigrated to Evansville in 1924. And pig knuckles (shank of ham) also accompany beer (real and pretend) during rousing "Ein prosit" toasts.

You'll see men in lederhosen and women in Bavarian dirndls, and Saturday morning is devoted to a Kiddie Carnival offering games, free food and a German costume contest.

According to Scheu, Volksfest is more than making bucks on beer and brats.

"Most people relate us to German food and music," said Scheu, "and don't realize Germania Maennerchor stands for German men's chorus. This event helps the community celebrate its Germanic heritage."

In 1900, when a majority of Evansville residents had German ancestry, a dozen men launched the West Side club as a way to feel at home by singing songs from their homeland. It was "einer fur alle, und alle fur einen," or "one for all, and all for one."

The two-story brick clubhouse at 916 N. Fulton Ave. was built in 1912, so its centennial is fast approaching.

The original Volksfest, or "people fest," from 1934 to 1940 was halted by World War II, but it resumed during Evansville's Sesquicentennial in 1962.

Scheu, 66, already is thinking of next year's 50th observance, hoping merchants in the West Franklin Street business district and others will create an entire week of festivities culminating with Volksfest.

Scheu said the challenge each August is to get younger members involved.

"Everyone wants to be a jolly bartender," he said with a chuckle, but there are plenty of other "hot" jobs, such as grilling the brats.

Scheu and other oldtimers credit 30-year-old Timothy "Tad" Dickel, executive director of Mater Dei High School, with energizing Germania since he became conductor of its men's and women's (Damenchor) choirs a couple of years ago.

A native of Omaha, Neb., which has its own German singing club, Dickel majored in music at the University of Evansville. Friends encouraged him to become a Germania singer, and when the club's choir director moved, Dickel was asked to lead the men's chorus (nearly 50 members) and the women's Damenchor (25 singers).

"It's a diverse group of people who have a love of music and German culture," Dickel said. "There are about 80 similar German singing clubs in the U.S. Music has always been an important part of the German heritage."